Method of preparing and serving ice cream



22,1938. w COCKS 2,109,102

METHOD OF PREPARING AND SERVING ICE CREAM Filed Oct. 1, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 22, 1938. w C KS 2,109,102

Patented Feb. 22,1938

UNITED STATESPA'lENT OFFICE George W. Cocks, Upper Montclair, N. J assignor to Marathon Paper Mills Company, Rothschild, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin Application October 1, 1936, Serial No. 103,562

9 Claims, (01. 621'l4) tainers of metal or of heavy paper, I employ dis- This invention relates to an improved method of preparing frozen comestibles, such as ice cream, for dispensing from distortable and disposable containers constructed of paper or the like and having a predetermined contour. The invention relates more specifically to an improved method for the preparation andhandling of ice cream in bulk quantities as distinguished from individual servings.

In recent years, metal containers for bulk ice cream have to a,large extent been replaced by containers made of paper, fiber or other inexpensive, disposable materials. The cost of. the paper container is only a fraction of the cost of the metal container and it is not necessary to return the same when the contents are exhausted. The disposable container is also more sanitary since it is used only once and there is no dangenresulting from improper cleaning.

There are, however, two objections to the paper container. .I'he side walls, being less strong than a in the metal container, are frequently punctured by the scoop or other dispensing device. The second objection'is that, due to the lack of any adequate side wall support, the paper tends to crinkle, particularly after a portion'of the contents have been removed, and the cream is thereby caused to adhere too closely to such portions with a resulting loss in the product.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an improved method of packaging ice 1 cream for bulk service wherein the container may be constructed from paper orother suitable thin fibrous material, and wherein the sidewalls In addition to the saving in cost of manufac ture of the containers and inproviding means in the dispensing cabinet for more efiective storage and greater accessibility, the present method greatly reduces the.cost .of manufacture of. the' product. It is an object of the invention to provide means to enable the refrigerated air in the, freezing chamber t9 have ready access to the relatively thin containers of the ice cream and. thereby speed up the freezing process.

My improved method may be briefly described as follows: Instead of employing cylindrical contortable containers of predetermined contour such as substantially rectangular containers of rather thin cardboard or hard surfaced paper, the containers being preferably of such dimensions as to form a cube;when two of the containers are placed side by side.

The container is provided with a. closure flap which is integrally formed with one of the short edges of the opening side, which flap desirably becomes one of the side walls after the container is filled and the contents hardened. A plurality of these containers are placed in a' wire or mesh basket side by side, the basket preferably having transverse partitions in order that the four side walls of each container are provided with sufiicient support to prevent bulging when the partially frozen mixture is placed therein. To accomplish this, it is necessary that the individual wires of the mesh, or the horizontal and vertical bars, as the case may be, be sufiiciently close together to engage at closely spaced points a considerable portion of the side walls oi the container while at the same time being sumciently open to permit free access of the air in the refrigerating chamber to all parts thereof.

The partially frozen ice cream mixture is then poured into the container and the closure flaps sealed. The baskets are now moved into the hardening chamber and are stacked one upon the other. In the usual stacking of paper ice cream containers, there is a very definite crush limit of the containers and thestorage capacity of the hardening room necessarily reduced thereby. In my method, however, there is no crush-limit and the usual hardening room, the truck which transports the confection, and the "dispensing cabinet, may accommodate a considerably greater capacity than with existing practices.

I may employ a dispensing cabinet of the type disclosed in myco-pending' application Serial No. -103,5l3 for Storage cabinetsij led ofeven date'herewith. I This cabinet includes a plurality of substantially square metal containers which are provided with upper or lower-rollers and which are moved .on trackways. aboutjthe cabinet as desired'in order to make the contents more accessible. I place two .ofthe rectangular containers of ice cream within each metal container and then force a partition plate downwardly to separate the two containers ,and provide vertical side wall support for the meeting faces. Thus each individual container is securely supported all during the dispensing"- operation.-

Thus two ice cream containers flt snugly with in each metal container and all four side walls of each paper container are given firm support. In. storage cabinets of the type which are particularly adapted for use in connection with the present invention, there may be provided the movable metal containers which permit front service with access to the lower storage area of the cabinet or the cabinet may be of a single tier construction with no auxiliary storage space therebeneath. In other instances two tiers may be provided and eachupper container may be stationary.

In carrying out the foregoing method there is considerably less labor employed in the container filling operation, in stacking in the hardening room and in the other handling operations. The welded wire construction of the basket prevents bulging of the container when placed in the hardening room and, if desired, the plurality of containersmay be delivered to the retail distributor in such baskets. In this fashion the containers are protected from abrasion and from dirt.

Another important object of the invention is the providing of a container of the character described wherein marking of flavors on the individual containers will be greatly facilitated and. wherein stock records and inventory may likewise be kept with greater ease.

Yet another object of the invention is in the provision of an improved basket or container for supporting the individual ice-cream containers while undergoing the hardening process, the baskets being so constructed to provide sufiicient support for the side and bottom walls of the container to prevent bulging and still allow the air in the hardening chamber to have access to all parts of such containers.

' Inthe drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred form of container, the view showing the initial closure fiap in an open position;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blank employed in constructing this container;

Fig. 3' is a perspective view of part of the apparatus employed in carrying out the present method;

Fig. 4 is an'end elevation of the preferred form of basket or container for supporting the indlvidual bulk ice cream containers;

Fig. 5 is a broken horizontal section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the filled container in closed position; and

Fig. '7 is a perspective view showing two of the individual containers mounted within a metal container'which is adapted to be positioned within the dispensing cabinet; and

Fig. 8 is an end elevation of one of the metal partitions for the cabinet containers, the view showing the container side wall engaging means formed therein.

The blank which is employed in forming the container of predetermined contour is desirably made from relatively thin paper, cardboard or other fibrous material and may include for exampletwo' square portions B and D,'and four rectangular portions A, C, E and F. The portion tions.

aloaloa base thereof, which portion is provided with overlapping portions it on each free edge thereof. lihe initial cover section E is provided with a closure flap M having finger engaging tabs l5 and side wall tabs it, which are suitably secured to the square side walls B and D.

The basket or container for supporting the individual "bulk ice cream containers is illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, and is preferably made from mesh material comprising horizontal bars H and vertical bars it, The basket is substantially rectangular in shape and includes side walls 29, end walls 29 and a bottom wall 22. The basket further is provided with a plurality of intermediate transverse walls M, and when thecontainers designated as 25 are positioned within the basket each one fits relatively snugly into one of the compartments formed by these transverse parti- In order to permit the extension portion i l of the cover E to be adhesively secured to the upper marginal edge of the end wall A, the in-= dividual containers are made slightly deeper than the basket in order to permit the containers to extend. slightly above the basket as shown in Fig. 3.

Inasmuch as the baskets are to be placed in the hardening room, one upon the other, the following means may be provided for spacing the individual baskets, thereby preventing crushing of the individual containers which extend above the upper edges thereof. A vertical rod 28 is welded or otherwise secured to each corner section of the basket, the rod having a socket or female member 27 secured at the lower end thereof. The partially frozen ice cream mixture is contained within the tank 29 which is provided with an outlet spout 30 having shut-oil 1 means 3i.

The process may now be briefly described as follows: A plurality of the individual containers are placed within the basket, as aforesaid, each of the individual containers being of such dimensions as to snugly fit within the individual chambers in order to prevent bulging. The containers are now substantially filled with the par tially frozen mixture from the tank 29 andthe cover sections sealed. The baskets are now placed one upon the other in the hardeningroom and the confection left. to harden. The individual containers may then be removed from the basket or they may be shipped to the retail distributor without being removed therefrom, there- After the containers are placed therein, side wall.v

support for the meeting faces of the two individual containers is afiorded by means of a partltion 34, having handle means 35 to permit easy removal. As shown in Fig. 8, the partitions are formed with a plurality of downwardly and outwardly extending punched out portions 31 which grip the paper containers and prevent upward movement thereof. The metal containers may be provided with pins or other suitable means for preventing the withdrawal of the partitions until desired. The partition in Fig. 8 is illustrated as being provided with pins 38 at its lower end which engage holes in the lower surface of the container and a looped portion 39 at its upper end to receive and or the like.

When the individual containers are to be inserted within the metal containers, the cover sections a are first stripped ofi. It will be appreciated, of course, that each individual container may be of such size as to fit snugly within the metal container or that four or any other number of appropriate size containers may be placed therein, in which latter case suitable double partitions may be provided.

It .is to be understood that the specific constructions herein disclosed are merely illustrative of the novel features of the invention and that it is intended to include in the following claims numerous modifications and changes which may be made in the contour of the containers in which ice cream or other congealable material is frozen therein as well as in the equipment used for carrying out the process. It is also to be understood that the method is applicable to packaging ice cream and other congealable materials and comestibles which expand upon freezing or which may distort the container when in liquid condition during the filling operation.

What I claim is:

l. The method of forming a bulk package of frozen material to have a predetermined contour in a distortable container which comprises providing a receptacle constructed of distortable material so as to have a predetermined contour, confining the side walls of said receptacle so as to retain said predetermined contour, substantially filling said receptacle with a material which is expansible upon freezing, and subjecting said container to freezing conditions so as to harden said material without substantially bulging or distorting said container from its predetermined contour.

2. The method of forming a bulk package of frozen material so as to have a predetermined contour in a distortable container which comprises providing a receptacle constructed of distortable material so as to have a predetermined contour, confining the side walls of said receptacle by a rigid foraminous support conforming to the predetermined contour of said container and permitting access of air to said walls, substantially filling said receptacle with a material which is expansible upon freezing, subjecting said receptacle to freezing conditions and circulating cold air about said receptacle so as to solidify the material and cause it to assume the predetermined contour of said'container without substantially distorting same.

3. The method of forming a bulk package of ice cream in a. paper container of predetermined contour which comprises placing said'container within a support having rigid bottom and side walls conforming to the predetermined contour of said receptacle so as to closely embrace same, substantially filling said container with a partially frozen ice cream mixture and subjecting the container while so supported tofreezing conditions to congeal said ice cream mixture so as to cause same to assume the predetermined contour of said container without substantially distorting same.

4. The method of forming a bulk package of frozen material in a distortable container of predetermined contour which comprises placing said ing bottom and side walls conforming to the predetermined contour of said receptacle so as to closely embrace same, substantially filling said container with a congealable material which is expansible upon freezing and subjecting the concontainer within a support having rigid confinso as to cause said congealable material to assume the predetermined contour of said container without substantially distorting same.

5. The method of preparing a bulk ice cream package in a distortable container of predetermined contour adapted to be snugly supported and retained in a dispensing receptacle of the same contour which comprisesconfining the bottom; and side walls of said container with a substantially rigid support conforming to the predetermined contour of said container so as to snugly embrace same, substantially filling said container with a partially frozen ice cream mixture, closing said container, and subjecting said container while so supported to freezing conditions so as to cause said ice cream to assume the predetermined contour of said container without substantially distorting same so as to be readily insertable while the ice cream is still frozen in a dispensing receptacle of the same contour for supporting the walls of container during dispensing of the ice cream.

6. The method of preparing bulk ice cream packages for dispensing from containers constructed of distortable material and having a predetermined contour adapted to be snugly suptainer while so supported to freezing conditions ported in a dispensing receptacle of the same contour which comprises individually supporting a plurality of said containers in a foraminous support having rigid bottom and side walls engaging the bottom and side walls of said containers and conforming to the contour thereof, substantially filling the individual containers with partially frozen ice cream mixture, closing the individual containers, subjecting said containers while so supported to freezing conditions to congeal said ice cream mixture so as to cause same to assume the predetermined contour of said containers without substantially distorting same out of said contour, removing the individual packages of the frozen mixture from said foraminous support, and inserting the containers while the mixture is still frozen in snugly fitting individual dispensing receptacles of the same contour, so as to retain same and support the walls of said containers during dispensing of said ice cream.

7. The method of preparing bulk ice cream for dispensing from containers constructed of distortable material and having a predetermined contour adapted for being'snugly supported in a dispensing receptacle of the same contour which comprises providing a plurality of said containers, confining the bottom and side walls of said containers so as to retain same in said predetermined contour, substantially filling said receptacles with a partially frozen ice cream mixture, subjecting said receptacles to freezing conditions while so confined to solidify the ice cream mixture and cause same to assume the predetermined contour of said containers without substantially distorting same out of said contour, and placing said containers while the ice cream mixture is still frozen in a dispensing receptacle of conforming contour so as to rigidly confine ture, subjecting the receptacle to freezing conditions while confining the side walls of said receptacle to prevent substantial distortion of same from its predetermined contour, until said ice cream mixture is solidified, and placing said container while the ice cream mixture is still frozen in a dispensing receptacle of conforming contour in order to rigidly support the walls of said container and retain same during dispensing of said ice cream from said container.

9. The method of preparing bulk ice cream for dispensing from containers of paper and having a predetermined contour which comprises the steps of freezing ice cream in said containers While supporting the bottom and side walls thereof to prevent distortion. of saidcontour; placing at least two of suchindividuai containers while the ice cream is still in frozen condition in a receptacle having walls for rigidly supporting the outer walls'oi said containers, and placing a rigid separator plate between the meeting faces of adjoining containers in order to afford firm side wall support for said adjoining side walls to prevent loulging and rupture of the container walls during dispensing. I

GEORGE W. COCKS. 

